Subs Without A Power Cap???

[BenBrausen]

OK so I think that my Lightning Audio power cap might be the thing that's drainin' my electrical system. Then the caps go bad and won't hold a charge, all they do is drain your battery. I'm plannin' on hittin' up the lifetime warranty but I want some sound in the car for now. Is it gonna be ok if I hook my 1250 watt amp up directly to the battery? I usally run the subs at -3 on the head unit (+6 is the highest setting). Is this gonna mess up my electrical system and will the alternator be able to handle it? I know stupid ricers run big systems on their like 45amp Honda alternators but there's also a reason their lights dim and the car almost dies everytime the bass hits.

 

[halfasspunk]

You can try it, but I wouldnt do it. Id just disconnect the sub amp for now, and have the rest of the speakers for music.

 

[quadmasta]

turn your amp down a bit (the gain ****) and you'll be fine

I ran 2400W RMS on a stock alternator

 

[BenBrausen]

I've been runnin' it with just the stock speakers for the last week and it's drivin' me NUTS! Then sound sooooooo weak. There's NO BASS without any kinda sub hooked up. I wouldn't be runnin' my 4000watt amp, just yank it out for now and drop in the old 1250watt one. Just enough to get those 12's movin'.

 

[HopefulSHO]

Definatly go ahead and hook it up w/o the cap.
Perhaps install an in-line fuse though, if you haven't already.
I'd go nuts if I had some subs that I couldn't bump

 

[BenBrausen]

I was gonna hook them up yesterday but the state got hit with as much as 10 inches in some spots. Tornados and other fun stuff. They predict the same tonight. I can't wait.... Where I live we got like 4 inches or more but not the wind other parts got west of us.

I'll hook them up when I get a chance. I've always had an inline 120amp fuse on the power wire. I called Lightning Audio a min ago about a warranty on the cap but they don't provide a lifetime warranty on their caps like good power cap makers do. headbang Oh well, it didn't cost me anywhere close to retail for it. I'll hook it up and see how it works.

 

[BlackOnBlackATX]

quadmasta:
turn your amp down a bit (the gain ****) and you'll be fine

I ran 2400W RMS on a stock alternator

holy *******! ::whistles:: RMS!?! that thing must have made your ears bleed bigtime thumb

 

[SHOZ123]

Caps are band-aids for insufficient wiring and or improper battery applications, either in size, quantity or type.

A cap will discharge in milliseconds and takes the same amount of time to recharge.

 

[yamahaSHO]

Caps are very good at what they do. They are there for peak power spurts to keep your bass from flattening out. That is why you keep in close to the amp... The alternator/battery power has to travel the length of your car. You will always loose some amount of power no matter what size your cable is. The cap has a short run of wire directly to the amp which make the power immediate. If you look inside a good amp, you will find HUGE capacitors already in them. It takes 3 time constants for a cap to charge and discharge. There are a few factors that determine a certain caps time constant that I will not get into. You want it to charge and discharge quick so that it can always replenish the energy very quickly.

If you pair up the right size cap to what ever system you have, it will do wonders. It will also stop your lights from dimming too.

 

[yamahaSHO]

BlackOnBlackATX:

quadmasta:
turn your amp down a bit (the gain ****) and you'll be fine

I ran 2400W RMS on a stock alternator

holy *******! ::whistles:: RMS!?! that thing must have made your ears bleed bigtime thumb

If he had to turn the gain down, then he never reached 2400watts rms.

 

[Modemagic]

2400RMS... problem with amp makers nowdays is they triple ratings to make them seem "appealing" to consumers.. frown

 

[jelloslug]

Yea, RMS ratings are about the most useless thing there is. They tell you 0 about how the amp performs, just how much power the amp put out in some test (probably at a set frequency) under ideal conditions with filtered power from a large DC power supply. Look at harmonic distortion and signal to noise ratio, that will tell you alot about the quality of the amp.

 

[yamahaSHO]

jelloslug:
Yea, RMS ratings are about the most useless thing there is. They tell you 0 about how the amp performs, just how much power the amp put out in some test (probably at a set frequency) under ideal conditions with filtered power from a large DC power supply. Look at harmonic distortion and signal to noise ratio, that will tell you alot about the quality of the amp.

You must account for the RMS as well as the other specs. The only worthless rating is peak power.

 

[BlownByU]

I would definatly not hesitate to hook up the subs again, just take it easy. I used mine without a capasitor and killed my battery and alternator but if you take it easy there will be no problem. wink